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Monday, June 30, 2014

Professor Thomas Main Featured in Las Vegas Sun

Thomas Main is Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research and a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On June 28, he was featured in the Las Vegas Sun article Dissecting Nevada's statute of limitations.

In regard to Nevada's two-year statute of limitations, Professor Main said, "Those statute of limitations periods — one way of thinking about them is that they give a person who would file a lawsuit a chance to see whether or not they need to file a lawsuit. If a statute were only 30 days or 60 days, everybody would have to hurry and find a lawyer and file a lawsuit before they really found out whether or not they needed to. That is one often-overlooked thing — the virtue that, in a sense, it can discourage lawsuits because you can wait and see if you need to file one. Over the course of years, a person can look back and realize an injury was just a bad weekend and one missed day of work."

Professor Main is a leading figure in the field of civil procedure. Most of his scholarship explores the history of procedure, with current projects focused on judicial efficiency initiatives in the 1950s-1970s.

Boyd Alumni Elected to State Bar of Nevada Board of Governors

The State Bar of Nevada Board of Governors in June held its 2014-2015 Board of Governors elections.

Boyd alumna Paola Armeni '03 and alumnus Ryan Works '04 were elected to the Board of Governors for District One (Clark County). They will serve two-year terms beginning in July.

According to the State Bar of Nevada website, Armeni, a Shareholder at Gordon Silver, "... is a Board of Governors member that was re-elected for another two-year term. She is the former chair of the bar's Young Lawyers Section and is also past president of Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice and current member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Clark County and American Bar Associations."

According to the same website, "Mr. Works is a partner at the firm of McDonald Carano Wilson and he practices primarily in corporate bankruptcy, insolvency and business litigation. Since becoming a member of the bar, he has been active in bar groups, such as the Young Lawyers Section."

Professor Thomas McAffee Shares Thoughts on Blog

Thomas McAffee is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

Professor McAffee has a blog titled McAffee's Machinations, Taking the Constitution Seriously. On the blog, he shares his thoughts on politics, the United States Constitution, Supreme Court rulings, books, and more. To read Professor McAffee's blog, visit thomasmcaffee.com.

Professor McAffee advises the Nevada Law Journal and teaches American Legal History, First Amendment Rights, and Constitutional Law.

Professor Leslie Griffin Featured on KNPR

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On June 26, she was featured on the KNPR segment Court Strikes Utah Same-Sex Ban.

"The 10th Circuit said that Utah's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, and it's the first court of appeals to do so. That's part of what makes it so important and why people are paying so much attention to it. The court gave a very strong opinion saying that there is a fundamental right to marry, and that fundamental right to marry protects both the people who want to get married in Utah as well as the couple in the case who had gotten married in Iowa and want to live in Utah," she said during the segment. "We know that the 9th Circuit will eventually make a ruling on same-sex marriage, and I think people would have thought that the 9th Circuit was the most likely to come out first for same-sex marriage. So it's a big signal that the first appeals court to reach this has said that there's a fundamental right to marry that includes the right to same-sex marriage."

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Professor Rachel Anderson to Present at National Bar Association's 89th Annual Conference

Rachel Anderson is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Anderson will attend the National Bar Association’s 89th Annual Convention in Atlanta from July 25 to July 31 in her capacity as President of the Las Vegas Chapter of the National Bar Association, a Vice President of the Law Professor’s Division, and a presenter on a Continuing Legal Education panel.

During the annual conference, she will be presenting two talks, titled “Re-enfranchisement: Race, Criminal ‘Justice,' and Fulfilling the Promise of One Person, One Vote” and “Pushing Back on the Prison to Voteless Pipeline: An Action Plan for Individuals and Groups.”

Professor Anderson's research and teaching interests focus on business law, civil and human rights, empirical legal studies, and international law.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Boyd Alumna Joanna Myers '10 Joins Gordon Silver, Featured in Press Release

On June 24, Boyd alumna Joanna Myers '10 was featured in a press release distributed by Gordon Silver.

Myers has joined Gordon Silver as a member of the firm's Intellectual Property and Entertainment & Sports practice groups.

The release reads, "'We are happy to have Joanna join our team,' said Gordon Silver managing partner Gregory E. Garman. 'She has a tremendous work ethic, and is a great fit for our expanding Intellectual Property and Entertainment & Sports practice groups.'"

Monday, June 23, 2014

Professor Rachel Anderson to Attend Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony

Rachel Anderson is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On June 24, Professor Anderson will attend the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The invitation-only event will take place at the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. 

At the ceremony, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Representative Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) and Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) will join Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). During the ceremony, the leaders will present a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, whose leadership within the Civil Rights Movement greatly contributed to the law’s passage. The Congressional Gold Medal represents Congress’ highest expression of appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions to the nation.

Professor Anderson's research and teaching interests focus on business law, civil and human rights, empirical legal studies, and international law.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Boyd School of Law Ranked 53 on Law Schools List Based on LSATs, Employment and Citations

Alfred Brophy, the Judge John J. Parker Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - School of Law, on June 17 published a paper titled Ranking Law Schools with Lsats, Employment Outcomes, and Law Review Citations.

In the paper, the William S. Boyd School of Law is tied for the No. 53 spot.

The paper's abstract reads, "... this paper looks to three variables. They are median LSAT score of entering students, which seeks to capture the quality of the student body; the percentage of the graduating students who are employed at 9 months following graduation at full-time, JD required jobs; and the number of citations to each school’s main law review. This paper rank orders each of those variables, then averages those ranks to obtain a new ranking; then it compares those new rankings to the U.S. News & World Report rankings."

Professor Linda Edwards Provides Commentary on KNPR

Linda Edwards is the E.L. Cord Foundation Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On June 19, she provided commentary on the KNPR segment Telling A Good (Legal) Story.

"Cognitive psychology has demonstrated more and more every day that all of see the world through a certain sort of frame. We don't take in information neutrally and then decide what to do with it. We instead, as a matter of cognitive psychology, in our brains already have a narrative or metaphoric perspective or frame that we are working within when we take in that new information, and we interpret it in a way that makes it as consistent as possible with the narrative frame we're working with," she said during the interview. "Any time there is any kind of discretion with regard to the facts or to professional decision making by either a judge or a jury, it's going to be tempered, seen through one of those metaphoric or narrative frames."

Professor Edwards is a national leader in the field of legal writing, having been awarded the 2009 Thomas Blackwell Award for her lifetime achievements in and contributions to the field.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Professor Ruben Garcia Provides Commentary on KNPR

http://law.unlv.edu/faculty/ruben-garcia.htmlRuben J. Garcia is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On June 17, he provided commentary on KNPR's segment Convenience Store Employees Sue for Overtime Pay. The segment is about Circle K employees suing the store chain for allegedly misclassifying their type of employment to avoid paying overtime.

"Retail workers, in particular, [is] where we've seen a bevy of lawsuits throughout the country in terms of alleged misclassification. So what's going on allegedly at Circle K and other retail chains is just really the tip of the iceberg in terms of the volume of litigation... ," Professor Garcia said during the interview.

A recognized expert in the field of labor and employment law, Professor Garcia teaches Labor Law, Employment Law, Constitutional Law, and Professional Responsibility at the Boyd School of Law. He has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, among others, and has appeared on national and local radio and television programs.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Boyd School of Law Named to Best Value List

The William S. Boyd School of Law on June 13 was named to the preLaw magazine's Best Value law schools list.

According to the preLaw magazine website, the list is based on "... a number of academic and financial variables, including the law school's price of tuition, student debt accumulation, employment success, bar passage rate and cost of living. Employment is given the greatest weight — 35 percent — because of the recent woes in hiring."

The Boyd School of Law was among 53 law schools to make this year's list.

Professor Ruben Garcia Featured in Las Vegas Sun

http://law.unlv.edu/faculty/ruben-garcia.htmlRuben J. Garcia is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On June 14, he was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun article A year after massive salmonella outbreak, legal cloud still lingers over Firefly.

"It's not uncommon for these things to drag on. It's not uncommon for there to be, in such a large class, some people who want a different deal. People had varying injuries and varying reactions," Professor Garcia said in the article.

A recognized expert in the field of labor and employment law, Professor Garcia teaches Labor Law, Employment Law, Constitutional Law, and Professional Responsibility at the Boyd School of Law. He has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, among others, and has appeared on national and local radio and television programs.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Boyd School of Law Ranks High on U.S. News & World Report List of Graduate Placement in State and Local Judicial Clerkships

The Boyd School of Law was recently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top law schools for graduate placement in state and local judicial clerkships.

In a June 12 article titled "Grads of These Law Schools Get the Most Judicial Clerkships," U.S. News & World Report ranks law schools based on the percent of 2012 J.D. graduates with federal judicial clerkships and state and local judicial clerkships.

The Boyd School of Law ranked sixth on the list of state and local judicial clerkships, with 19.5 percent of 2012 graduates working with judges at the state and local levels.

The article reads, "New law school grads covet judicial clerkships for their positive career implications. Federal clerkships are typically the hardest to get, but state and local clerkships can give new grads' careers a boost, too. Judges at federal, state and local courts consistently say that their clerks perform vital functions in their chambers."

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Eighty Boyd Alumni Named to 2014 Legal Elite

The Nevada Business Magazine's 2014 Legal Elite list features 80 alumni from the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law.

The list names the top attorneys in Nevada based on more than 6,000 votes by their peers, according to the Nevada Business website. The list includes four sections: the top Southern Nevada attorneys, the top Northern Nevada attorneys, the Best Up and Coming attorneys, and the Best Government attorneys.

The list represents the top four percent of Nevada attorneys. Of that top four percent, Boyd alumni represent 25 percent of the list.

Below is a list of the 80 Boyd attorneys and the section(s) in which they appeared (some appear in more than one list).

Southern Nevada Top Attorneys
Eric T. Aldrian ‘10
Ogonna M. Atamoh ‘01
Christian T. Balducci ‘12
Brian L. Blaylock ‘12
Shemilly A. Briscoe ‘06
Maria Magali Calderon ‘09
Justin L. Carley ‘06
Nicholas D. Crosby ‘04
Kendal L. Davis ‘10
Jack F. DeGree ‘07
Lindsay C. Demaree ‘10
Philip R. Erwin '09
Kelly J. Fessler ‘11
Tabitha D. Fiddyment Simmons ‘03
Christopher P. Ford ‘09
Matthew H. Friedman ‘09
Elias P. George ‘11
Nedda Ghandi ‘08
Charles E. Gianelloni ‘12
Kelley N. Goldberg ‘06
David R. Gordon ‘09
Dale A. Hayes, Jr. '04
Kara B. Hendricks ‘01
Mark D. Hesiak ‘11
Kenneth E. Hogan ‘06
Kirk D. Homeyer ‘11
Christopher D. Kircher ‘08
Scott A. Knight ‘04
Margaret W. Lambrose ‘09
Michael Lee '06
Erin E. Lewis ‘08
Anne M. Loraditch ‘02
Daniel R. McNutt ‘01
William N. Miller ‘09
Samuel R. Mirkovich '09
Terry A. Moore '01
Boyd B. Moss III ‘03
Alissa L. Neufeld '09
Timothy R. O’Reilly '01
Anthony M. Paglia ‘08
Casey G. Perkins ‘10
Richard A. Rawson ‘04
Jarrod L. Rickard '06
Anthony R. Sassi ‘11
Damian R. Sheets ‘07
Rachel R. Silverstein ‘08
David J. Stoft ‘06
Jessica S. Taylor ‘08
Marissa R. Temple ‘04
Liane K. Wakayama ‘08
Kendelee L. Works '05
Ryan J. Works ‘04
Amanda C. Yen ‘05
Shane J. Young ‘04
Kristopher T. Zeppenfeld ‘10
Jamie L. Zimmerman '09

Northern Nevada's Top Attorneys
Stephanie H. Allen ‘03
Timothy M. Clausen ‘06
Joshua D. Correlli ‘05
Holly E. Estes ‘09
John R. Funk ‘11
Stephanie K. Funk ‘12
Marjorie L. Hauf ‘02
Louis Ed Humphrey ‘04
Brian R. Irvine ‘01
Ryan W. Leary ‘09
Patrick R. Millsap ‘10
Ryan D. Russell ‘03

Best Up & Coming Attorneys
Eric T. Aldrian ‘10
Christian T. Balducci ‘12
Maria Magali Calderon ‘09
Christopher S. Connell ‘12
Joshua D. Correlli ‘05
Lindsay C. Demaree ‘10
Kelly J. Fessler ‘11
Christopher P. Ford ‘09
Matthew H. Friedman ‘09
Elias P. George ‘11
Charles E. Gianelloni ‘12
Kirk D. Homeyer ‘11
Marla J. Hudgens ‘08
Ryan W. Leary ‘09
William N. Miller ‘09
Anthony M. Paglia ‘08
Tara H. Popova ‘10
Karl F. Rutledge ‘06
Anthony R. Sassi ‘11
Colin Seale ‘12
Damian R. Sheets ‘07
David J. Stoft ‘06
Melissa L. Waite ‘07
Liane K. Wakayama ‘08
Paul C. Williams ‘11

Best Government Attorneys
Sandra Douglass Morgan ‘03
Kristina E. Gilmore ‘09
Brandon Kemble ‘07
Rafael Nones ‘08
John P. Witucki ‘07

Professor Nancy Rapoport to Speak at 2014 Women in the Law Conference


Nancy B. Rapoport is the Gordon Silver Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Rapoport will be speaking at the Federal Bar Association’s Women in the Law Conference: Power and Progress at the George Washington University Marvin Center in Washington D.C. on July 11.

She will give a talk titled, “How Hollywood Affects Lawyer Behavior: A Presentation on Ethics.”

The annual conference aims to change the conversation about women in the law, while promoting the advancement of women as legal practitioners.

Professor Rapoport's specialties are bankruptcy ethics, ethics in governance, and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture.

Professor Kay Kindred to Attend 2014 Uniform Law Commission Annual Meeting

Kay Kindred is a Ralph Denton Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Kindred will be attending the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) Annual Meeting in Seattle from July 10 to 17.

In addition to being a Commissioner for Nevada, she is a member of the ULC Drafting Committee for the Recognition and Enforcement of Canadian Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act. A draft of the Act is up for first-time consideration by the full body of ULC at the 2014 annual meeting.

Professor Kindred has published extensively in the areas of family law, children’s rights, and education law.

Professor Angela Morrison to Present at Nevada Limited Jurisdiction Judges Seminar

Angela Morrison is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On June 24, she will present a course on Immigration and Nevada Law at the Nevada Limited Jurisdiction Judges 2014 Summer Seminar in Elko, Nev.

According to the seminar website, "This session will introduce participants to how U.S. Immigration Law intersects with Nevada Law to impact litigants in criminal and small claims matters. Professor Morrison will give a brief overview of the immigration system. The session introduces the main principles that determine whether state criminal convictions will have immigration consequences for noncitizens. The session will illustrate how these principles apply to commonly charged nonviolent crimes under Nevada law, especially offenses such as petit larceny and drug possession."

Professor Morrison graduated from the Boyd School of Law where she was the editor-in-chief of the Nevada Law Journal and was a student attorney in the Immigration Clinic. Professor Morrison teaches in the Immigration Clinic and Employment Discrimination.

Professor Ruben Garcia Featured in Las Vegas Sun

http://law.unlv.edu/faculty/ruben-garcia.htmlRuben J. Garcia is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On June 1, he was featured in the Las Vegas Sun article Time is money in class-action suit

The article reads, "Resolving employee classification disputes generally boils down to identifying specific duties a worker performed, said UNLV professor Ruben Garcia, who specializes in labor disputes."

A recognized expert in the field of labor and employment law, Professor Garcia teaches Labor Law, Employment Law, Constitutional Law, and Professional Responsibility at the Boyd School of Law. He has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, among others, and has appeared on national and local radio and television programs.

Boyd Alumna Jessie Humphries '07 Featured in Las Vegas Weekly

Boyd alumna Jessie Humphries '07 on June 11 was featured in the Las Vegas Weekly article Weekly Q&A: YA Author Jessie Humphries Talks the Teen Mystique and Her Killer Characters.

The article reads, "On top of being an attorney, wife and mother, this local success is a rising star in the world of young-adult fiction."

Humphries' first book, Killing Ruby Rose, is on the top 10 list for Kindle. Her second book, Resisting Ruby Rose, is due out Oct. 28, 2014.

When asked by the Las Vegas Weekly, "Ruby Rose, the main character in your novel, is a 17-year-old vigilante; do you see parallels with other popular adult characters like serial killer Dexter?" Humphries responded, "I actually pitched this story to my agent as the young-adult version of Dexter. I find myself drawn to complicated characters who do bad things for the right reasons. While the 'hook' of my story is a '17-year-old girl vigilante turned serial killer,' I was always conscious of the fact that because I was writing a teen book, the idea of murder needed to be handled with care. So yeah, Ruby Rose walks a tightrope and poses some interesting questions... "

Associate Professor Michael Kagan Featured on SCOTUSblog

Michael Kagan is an Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Immigration Clinic at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

His June 10 article "Guest Blog: Professor Michael Kagan, Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio" on the Hamilton and Griffin on Rights blog - co-created by Boyd's Professor Leslie Griffin - was featured in the SCOTUSblog article "Wednesday round-up."

The SCOTUSblog article reads, "At Hamilton and Griffin on Rights, Michael Kagan weighs in on the Court’s decision in the immigration case Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio. He suggests both that '[t]he important point here is that the judiciary is not the only institution that can overrule the Board of Immigration Appeals' and that '[t]he questions that should [now] be asked . . . are more political than doctrinal.'"

Professor Kagan has written several of the most widely cited articles in the fields of refugee and asylum law. His research on credibility assessment in asylum cases has been repeatedly relied on by federal appellate courts and, according to a 2012 commentary, has "guided most subsequent research and analysis on the topic."

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Several Boyd Graduates Win Nevada Primary Election Races

Several Boyd graduates were successful in winning their races during the 2014 Nevada Primary Election, held June 10.

Derek Armstrong '10 captured 58 percent of the votes against Boyd student Andrew Coates '15 in the State Assembly, District 21 Republican race.

Susan Bush '02 captured 35 percent of the votes in a three-way race for District Court Judge, District 8, Department 28. She will advance to the Nevada General Election on Nov. 4.

Deonne Contine ‘05 ran uncontested in the School Trustee, District 6 race for Carson City.

Lucy Flores '10 won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor. She will run against Republican candidate Mark Hutchison in the Nevada General Election.

Linda Marquis '03 captured 19 percent of the votes in the race for District Court Judge, District 8, Family Division, Department B. She ran against seven other candidates.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Mock Deposition Provides Chance for Students to Put Their Law Studies to Practice

From left, Boyd students Michael Lin and
Elizabeth Wo Do and Professor Ann McGinley
It’s not every day that a law student walks into a classroom and asks a classmate, “So when did he grab your butt?”

Unless it’s during Professor Ann McGinley’s Employment Discrimination class at the William S. Boyd School of Law, in which case it’s par for the course.

The class of 34 second- and third-year law students recently took a hands-on approach to learning about Title VII by participating in a two-day mock deposition classroom experience based on a fictional sexual and racial harassment case. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination based on sex, race, national origin and religion.

“I don’t think any of them had ever seen a deposition before,” said Professor McGinley. “So not only were they dealing with this new set of legal issues, but they were trying to figure out how to prove their case and ask questions about it.”

Written by Professor McGinley, the fictional case involved a young African American woman who alleged she was sexually harassed by her supervisor at a bar outside of work. To complicate the issue, she had engaged in a consensual, sexual relationship with the man prior to his promotion to supervisor.

Though such subject matter can be uncomfortable to the lay person, it’s the lawyer’s job to give a voice to the client, explained attorney Kathleen England. England rallied 12 attorneys (including herself) from the Las Vegas law community to act as coaches for the students during the mock depositions.

“These are the day-to-day issues with which we deal,” said England, past president of the Nevada State Bar. “We deal in very sensitive subjects, in aspects of people’s lives that are unpleasant, and most people wish had never happened to them.”

Depositions typically take place in an attorney’s office, but the mock depositions took place in three classrooms at the law school. After reviewing the case and the laws surrounding it, students were broken into groups to take the deposition, defend the deposition, and to act the role of the deponent.

“There are a lot of questions to ask on both sides,” said Professor McGinley. “There were all these light bulbs going off for the students.”

During the first session, for instance, one student who was acting as the plaintiff lawyer was sitting there very quietly.

“And then something happened,” said attorney Cayla Witty, a 2012 Boyd graduate. “He said, ‘Can we take a time out?’ And he asked, ‘Is it OK if I object?’ And I’m like, ‘Absolutely, you have to jump in, you can’t be afraid.’”

Clockwise from left, attorneys Marjorie Hauf (Boyd Class of 2002), Miriam
Rodriguez (Boyd Class of 2003), Carol Davis Zucker, and Christian Gabroy;
Professor Ann McGinley; Attorney Kathy England; and students Michael
Lin and Elizabeth Wo Do
Witty said the hesitation to assert oneself is something a lot of new attorneys go through, and that makes having a practical platform such as a mock deposition invaluable for law students.

“A lot of people go into law school viewing the legal profession with a very skewed understanding of what happens on a day-to-day basis,” said Witty, “so getting a chance to do it in a controlled setting where you can ask questions, where you can make mistakes, where you can get pointers, is a great experience.”

On the second day, after all the students had a chance to play each of the roles in the deposition, the lawyers spoke about the purpose of depositions and put on a mock deposition of their own. This gave the students a chance to observe practicing lawyers approach the deposition process. 

“One part of learning how to practice law is looking around and seeing how other people do it,” said England. “Some people use humor, some talk faster than others. You have to develop your very own style and continue to hone it and hone it and hone it.”

Every lawyer has a different personality, added Witty, and “you can definitely see that in the students as well.”

Student Elizabeth Wo Do described the mock depositions as a tremendous learning opportunity and a chance to unleash everything she’s learned in law school up to now.

“It was a really good experience to practice what we know and also learn from the mistakes that we made,” she said. “In an actual setting things didn’t always go as we expected so we had to make adjustments in that moment.”

Attorney Marjorie Hauf, a 2002 Boyd alumna, said it was a learning experience for the lawyers as well.

“It’s always helpful even when you’re out there practicing to go back and revisit your basics,” she said.

In general, the Employment Discrimination course covers a variety of topics from disparate treatment to disparate impact. Professor McGinley said she often tries to incorporate practical exercises to help emphasize certain doctrinal issues. She felt the topic of harassment best lent itself to the deposition process, which is considered one of the most important discovery tools for an attorney.

“It’s a difficult course in that the students have to learn a significant amount of theory and doctrine,” said McGinley. “But after they’ve learned it they need to learn how to apply it in a more practical situation. I don’t think they really understand it or internalize it until they have an opportunity to put it into practice.”

Student Jose Martin said the mock deposition really helped add some perspective to the class materials.

“There are many skills that are critical to our future jobs, if we get jobs, that one does not learn reading or reciting 10 more cases, or 100 more,” he said, adding that he appreciated being able to read the materials in the context of a deposition versus a law exam. “Nobody pays you to take law school exams.”

Employment Discrimination defense attorney Nick Crosby said he was not only really impressed by the overall structure of the mock exercise but also the way the students handled it.

“I didn’t expect that level of confidence from people who have never taken a deposition or maybe have never seen a deposition,” said Crosby, a 2004 graduate of Boyd. “I can tell we have a high caliber of student and it’s pretty evident that the professors care about the success of those students.”

Las Vegas is a small legal community, added Crosby, and Boyd graduates will eventually become colleagues. Ensuring they are getting a great education is in everyone’s best interest, he said.

There may be a lot of things an attorney can argue with, but as Crosby put it: “You really can’t argue with the benefit of having better attorneys.”

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Boyd Alumni Write for June Issue of Nevada Lawyer

Two Boyd School of Law alumni published articles in the June issue of Nevada Lawyer, the State Bar of Nevada's monthly magazine.

Alumnus Jason Bacigalupi ' 12 wrote "Deterring Egregious Conduct and Frivolous Litigation: Awarding Attorneys' Fees as Special Damages and Under Bad Faith Litigation Statutes." The article reads, "Civil litigation is an expensive process, regardless of the interests at stake. Attorneys’ fees are often one of the largest expenses in litigation, sometimes exceeding (or dwarfing) damage awards. For example, a recent case in the Eighth Judicial District resulted in a $584,608 verdict in plaintiffs’ favor – followed by an award of more than $9 million in attorneys’ fees, costs and interest. Thus, whether on the paying or receiving end, the possible recovery of attorneys’ fees is a vital consideration for all parties in litigation."

Alumna Kendelee Works '05 wrote "Young Lawyers: Don't Forget About the Jury Instructions." In the column, she wrote, "... often lawyers, new and seasoned, forget to really consider jury instructions until the eve of trial, or worse, the eve of closing arguments. On the contrary, jury instructions are something you should be thinking about from the inception of your case. It is vital that you know the law on which the jury is likely to be instructed. Familiarizing yourself with the likely jury instructions means that you will have armed yourself with the law governing your case. That enables you to properly frame your discovery plan and truly assess the merits of your case."

Six Boyd Professors to Present at Legal Writing Institute Conference

Professors Linda Berger, Linda Edwards, Sara Gordon, Lori Johnson, Terrill Pollman and Rebecca Scharf will attend the 16th Biennial Legal Writing Institute Conference at the Drexel University of Law in Philadelphia from June 29 to July 2.

Professor Berger will become President of the Legal Writing Institute (LWI) for the 2014-16 term at the start of the conference.

Professor Edwards and Professor Pollman will present a session on Akhil Reed Amar’s “America’s Unwritten Constitution: The Precedents and Principles We Live By.”

Professor Gordon will present her paper, “What Jurors Want to Know: Motivating Juror Cognition to Increase Legal Knowledge and Improve Decision Making.” She also serves on the conference’s program committee.

Professor Johnson will present on a panel titled, “Practicing Today for Practice Tomorrow; Innovative Approaches.”

Professor Scharf will present a talk titled, “Bringing Social Justice Collaborations into the Classroom.” She was recently elected to the national Board of Directors for the LWI. Her term will begin at the conference and last until 2018.

LWI is the second largest organization of law professors in the country. Its biennial conference highlights developments in the legal writing field, while promoting discussion and scholarship on the topic.

Professors Stacey Tovino and Sara Gordon to Present at Health Law Professors Conference

(l-r) Professors Stacey Tovino and Sara Gordon
On June 7, Professors Stacey Tovino and Sara Gordon will present at the 37th Annual Health Law Professors Conference at the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.

Professor Tovino will give a talk titled "Update on At-Risk Populations: Mental and Physical Disability, Sexual Orientation, and Veterans' Status."

Professor Gordon will present her paper “What Jurors Want to Know: Motivating Juror Cognition to Increase Legal Knowledge and Improve Decision-Making.”

The conference is sponsored by Boston University’s American Society for Law, Medicine and Ethics.

Professor Sylvia Lazos to Present at Cambio de Colores Conference

Sylvia Lazos is the Justice Myron Leavitt Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Lazos will provide the opening keynote speech at the 13th Annual Cambio de Colores (Change of Colors) Conference, which focuses on the integration of immigrants, on June 25 at the University of Missouri – Columbia.

She will provide the opening keynote at the conference with a talk titled “Education Reform, Civil Rights, and Immigrant Children.”

Professor Lazos founded the conference while working at the University of Missouri – Columbia in 2002.

Professor Lazos is a frequent op-ed contributor, and her expertise is sought by print and broadcast media on a wide range of subjects, including higher education, immigration, race relations, government, voting and initiatives.

Professor Ruben Garcia to Attend Labor Law Group Biennial Conference

Ruben J. Garcia is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Garcia will attend the 2014 Labor Law Group Biennial Conference at Cornell University's Statler Hotel from June 25 to 28. 

The Labor Law Group is a nonprofit trust dedicated to the development of teaching materials to be used in courses on Labor and Employment Law.

A recognized expert in the field of labor and employment law, Professor Garcia teaches Labor Law, Employment Law, Constitutional Law, and Professional Responsibility at the Boyd School of Law. He has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, among others, and has appeared on national and local radio and television programs.

Professor Rachel Anderson to Present at Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Writing Workshop

Rachel Anderson is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On June 26, Professor Anderson will present a paper on the use of empirical data in legal scholarship at the 2014 Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Writing Workshop at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

She also serves as a planning committee member for the annual workshop.

Professor Anderson's research and teaching interests focus on business law, civil and human rights, empirical legal studies, and international law.

Professor Nancy Rapoport Quoted in Bloomberg Law

Nancy B. Rapoport is the Gordon Silver Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On May 29, she was quoted in the Bloomberg Law article PWC RAISES ‘EQUAL FAULT’ DEFENSE IN MF GLOBAL SUIT: BANKRUPTCY.

The article, about PricewaterhouseCoopers pointing to "an old English legal principle" reads, "The doctrine 'keeps trustees from undoing wrongdoing they had no part in committing and thus hurts recoveries for unsecured creditors.'"

Professor Rapoport's specialties are bankruptcy ethics, ethics in governance, and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture.